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| our meeting spot in town - the National Gallery |
After waking up from a very refreshing sleep - seriously slept like a LOG last night - It was a bit of a luxury to have a lazy morning chatting to mum and Murray (we had all 3 of us in her bed with our coffees!) and showering with no rush.
Mum and I met up with Daniel, Danielle, Dad, Josh and Steph in a raining city centre and decided it wasn't the best weather for exploring the Royal Mile today, so a quick change of plans led us to the Edinburgh Dungeons, armed with a row of coupon tickets from the back of my bus pass. I ripped the coupons apart into individual bits and handed the vouchers out to everyone before we went in, and it was a good thing because when we got there, the lady told us it was discount per RECEIPT - so I didn't have 8 discount tickets, only 1! Thankfully a bit of sweet talking and discussing led to her giving us each a £6 discount after all...whew. The Dungeons were fantastic! In each room, we were greeted by a different actor in costume. The first condemned 3 in our tour to the 'docks' to be tried and sentenced. One lady was found guilty of witchcraft and was told a test would be done - "if you float, your a witch and will be burnt...if you sink and die....dreadfully sorry!". Daniel was pulled up to the stand and was tried for stealing pink lingere and being a cross dresser! We laughed and laughed as Daniel gave as good as he got from the "judge" - who finally just invited cross-dressing "Shirley" out for a pint that evening! hehehe.
Daniel and Danielle also got found out as the upcoming bride and groom - so she was locked up in an iron torture cage while Daniel was the model as we learnt about various torture tools from the medieval times. The "chappy chopper" looked a bit horrid as the torturer threatened to chop off Daniel's....yes, well it was a bit sad to consider all those old torture methods. I squeelled like a baby as we sat in a boat in the pitch black surrounded by the whispers of cannibals and an occasional something brushed my face. I put my head down in mums lap, held onto dad who was in front of me and whimpered "even between my mummy and daddy I am STILL scared!". But I did love it, it was more laughs then frights as medical students reached into freshly murdered bodies and pulled out a bladder that squirted all over us and later we tried to work our way through a vault of mirror walls. Check out the look on my face as we dropped after being "hung at the gallows"!! Just a wee scream or two...It was a great tour, we all came out entertained.
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| looking down Princes Street |
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| The ancient buildings of the Royal Mile |
Then it was off to the Scot Monument, the dominating huge tower on the main street of Edinburgh, with almost 300 small winding steps to the top level, which is 60.1 metres high! The huge black gothic stone structure was made as a tribute to Sir Walter Scot, the famous Scots writer and poet. It was one of the first things I saw when I arrived in Edinburgh many moons ago and a favourite icon of mine. Daniel said he always thought of it as a Star Trek rocket!! We all made it to the top, although poor Steph freaked out with the height and I escorted her straight back down to the next level to sit and gather her breath poor thing. It is really high up - but a great spot for photos and we all took a few as I pointed out a few landmarks.
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| The Scotsman building with Carlton Hill behind |
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| A lovely old church I bus past daily on my way home |
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| ...and a closer view |
I finished my day with a spot of lingere shopping - I figured buying pretty bras is a good present for Marty as well as for me (wink wink) and the range in the UK is just SO much better then in NZ, although for the good stuff the prices are fairly similar. Then it was home for dinner and a quick video chat to the kids, who were busy getting ready for school and very chatty. I really only saw Luke's forehead, but he was determined to hold mummy on the screen himself "my turn!" he said to Jaimee who tried to help him. It's now almost 10pm and I am shattered from all that walking and activity - off to get my beauty sleep before another big day tomorrow - we are visiting the Palace before going on a girly trip to the musical Hairspray, followed by a nice dinner out with Danielle's family and ours. Whew, its a hard life!
Mum and I met up with Daniel, Danielle, Dad, Josh and Steph in a raining city centre and decided it wasn't the best weather for exploring the Royal Mile today, so a quick change of plans led us to the Edinburgh Dungeons, armed with a row of coupon tickets from the back of my bus pass. I ripped the coupons apart into individual bits and handed the vouchers out to everyone before we went in, and it was a good thing because when we got there, the lady told us it was discount per RECEIPT - so I didn't have 8 discount tickets, only 1! Thankfully a bit of sweet talking and discussing led to her giving us each a £6 discount after all...whew. The Dungeons were fantastic! In each room, we were greeted by a different actor in costume. The first condemned 3 in our tour to the 'docks' to be tried and sentenced. One lady was found guilty of witchcraft and was told a test would be done - "if you float, your a witch and will be burnt...if you sink and die....dreadfully sorry!". Daniel was pulled up to the stand and was tried for stealing pink lingere and being a cross dresser! We laughed and laughed as Daniel gave as good as he got from the "judge" - who finally just invited cross-dressing "Shirley" out for a pint that evening! hehehe. 
Daniel and Danielle also got found out as the upcoming bride and groom - so she was locked up in an iron torture cage while Daniel was the model as we learnt about various torture tools from the medieval times. The "chappy chopper" looked a bit horrid as the torturer threatened to chop off Daniel's....yes, well it was a bit sad to consider all those old torture methods. I squeelled like a baby as we sat in a boat in the pitch black surrounded by the whispers of cannibals and an occasional something brushed my face. I put my head down in mums lap, held onto dad who was in front of me and whimpered "even between my mummy and daddy I am STILL scared!". But I did love it, it was more laughs then frights as medical students reached into freshly murdered bodies and pulled out a bladder that squirted all over us and later we tried to work our way through a vault of mirror walls. Check out the look on my face as we dropped after being "hung at the gallows"!! Just a wee scream or two...It was a great tour, we all came out entertained.
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